Once upon a time, in a village called Ox-Horn Village surrounded by old forests and marshlands, folks named it so because of the great ox-horn-shaped stone in the temple at the village entrance. Beyond the village lay "Contrary Valley," where lived a fierce beast called "Taowu." It looked like a tiger with long shaggy fur, wild boar tusks, and a stiff, heavy tail—and its most peculiar trait was that it always did the opposite of what was asked, its mind forever set on "having its own way."
In the village lived a boy named Xiao Jiang—his name matched his temper, for he was as stubborn as a mule. If folks said "go east," he'd peek west; if they said "water is cold," he'd dip his hand in to feel. But Xiao Jiang had a kind heart—he just needed to understand why things were done a certain way, and would never give in until he did.
That winter, heavy snow covered every path, and the villagers had almost no firewood left to keep warm. The old village chief shook his head and warned: "Don't go to the back mountain! The trees there belong to Taowu—anyone who dares cut them will be thrown down the cliff!"
But seeing his family's cold hearth, Xiao Jiang slipped out with an axe at dawn. When he stepped into the woods, a loud CRASH rang out—a huge white beast burst from the snowdrifts, its fur frosted with ice. It roared: "Bold boy! How dare you touch my trees!"
Xiao Jiang stood tall and asked: "Why should you keep all the forest to yourself, while we have no wood to warm our homes?" Taowu whipped its tail and roared: "Because I'm strong! What I say goes!" But Xiao Jiang shot back: "Strength isn't an excuse to be unfair! If your trees can help us, why not teach us how to use them right?"
The question stopped Taowu cold. It sighed and recalled the old days—it had once been a wise guardian, but when folks cut trees without care, anger had made it grow stubborn, so stubborn it decided "no one shall touch anything here."
Then Xiao Jiang pulled out a cloth-wrapped book: "Look! We made rules—only take dry branches that have fallen, never cut live trees! We all agreed on it!" Taowu looked down and saw Xiao Jiang's red, frozen hands holding a small sapling he'd dug out from under the snow. The beast's eyes softened: "I didn't mean to be so harsh—I was just afraid folks would ruin the woods again..."
"Then teach us!" said Xiao Jiang. "We'll help guard the forest with you!"
Taowu was overjoyed and showed Xiao Jiang every corner of the woods—where to find fallen branches, which trees needed care, and how to tell a sick tree from a healthy one. It even turned some of its stiff fur into a measuring stick to tell which branches were ready to use.
From then on, Taowu was no longer contrary—instead, it became the village's "Forest Keeper." Whenever someone came to cut wood, the beast and Xiao Jiang would call out together: "Ask the trees first—will you treat them right?"
Even now, the old folks in Ox-Horn Village still pat little ones' heads and say: "Don't be like the old Taowu beast—stubbornness can guard things well, but it'll narrow your path! Only when you understand why things are done can you be stubborn in the right way!"